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ASIANA AFTERMATH: Details on the fatal crash of Asiana Airlines Flight 214 continue to trickle in — most of them from NTSB Chairwoman Deborah Hersman. The newest piece of the puzzle should come today, when she hopes to tell reporters more about the pilots’ side of the story — and maybe we’ll know more about why the two pilots didn’t talk about the problem until less than two seconds before impact (L.A. Times: http://lat.ms/15sCRcF). Until then, read on to learn why the FAA has limited regulatory options, what top aviation safety senators think, the latest developments from the investigation and why you shouldn’t rush to blame an inexperienced pilot. ...

FAA’s limited options: The evidence so far is pointing toward pilot error — and even if that turns out to be the case, regulators will have only limited ability to make the South Korean airline change its ways. The FAA can yank an airline’s permission to operate in the United States, but that is a rare action. It can restrict or ban an entire country’s airlines from operating inside the U.S. on the grounds of having below-par aviation standards — but that is also unlikely in this case. Otherwise, a foreign airline’s access to U.S. skies is something of an all-or-nothing proposition. The FAA downgraded South Korea’s aviation safety status in 2001 following a string of crashes and safety incidents, but the Asian country made a concerted effort to improve its practices. The FAA restored its clean rating later that year and nowadays considers South Korea as on par with the U.S. Kathryn for Pros: http://politico.pro/12zMIsW

Hill pols take wait and see approach: Commerce Chairman Jay Rockefeller told MT it’s far too early to speculate on any action from the Senate committee with air safety jurisdiction. “I’m following up on information, so to speak, but if you’re talking about a hearing, I think that would be highly premature.” Rockefeller urged patience while acknowledging that many want quick answers: “People are very anxious, they want to have an investigation and have immediate results. Those are very, very complicated investigations and it’s really important to get facts right,” he told MT. Kelly Ayotte, the top Republican on Commerce’s aviation and safety panel, took a similar stance: “There's nothing I can say we're going to take action on. It's too premature,” she told Kevin. Same for T&I top Dem Nick Rahall, who when asked if there’s anything Congress can act on replied: “Not that I’ve seen so far.”

TUESDAY, JUNE 9th. Thanks for reading POLITICO's Morning Transportation, your daily tipsheet on trains, planes and automobiles. There’s no tying in baseball — but 11 years ago today, there was: The All Star game was called at a 7-7 tie after 11 innings when both teams ran out of pitchers (http://bit.ly/13GVSZJ). Please be in touch: asnider@politico.com. And follow me on Twitter: @AdamKSnider.

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MORE ASIANA DETAILS — Plane came in too slow: The plane was traveling 39 mph below the target speed of 158 mph just a few seconds before it hit the ground, Hersman said in a briefing. The plane was traveling at 103 knots — or 118 mph — just 3 seconds before impact. It had sped up slightly to 106 knots at the time of impact, based on an initial review of flight data. Kevin has the story: http://politi.co/13GP26G

‘Not unusual’: Hersman also cautioned against making sweeping conclusions that the pilot’s relative lack of experience flying Boeing 777s had anything to do with Saturday’s crash — noting that “it’s not unusual for a pilot to fly for the first time to an airport.” Bob King: http://politi.co/12m7J9p

Coroner findings delayed: The coroner investigating whether one of the victims was run over by an emergency response vehicle won’t release his findings for “at least two or three weeks.” Hersman said that investigators are reviewing video footage but that “the initial read of the video wasn’t conclusive.” NBC Bay Area has the story: http://bit.ly/1bjp6PU

PRAISE APLENTY FOR HERSMAN: She may have been passed over to be President Barack Obama’s new Transportation secretary, but Hersman is winning kudos from lawmakers — and the tweeting public — for her steady hand after the first major commercial jet crash in more than a decade. The NTSB chairwoman has been a calming but commanding force in the aftermath of the Asiana Airlines crash, holding an impromptu news conference hours after the crash, personally calling key lawmakers to update them on new details of the probe and making the Sunday talk show rounds. Scott has the Pro story: http://politico.pro/11wDyT4

Fan #1: “Debbie is doing an excellent job leading the NTSB investigation into Saturday’s crash in San Francisco. She has proven herself to be a remarkable leader and steadfast in her commitment to making our transportation systems safer. There is no doubt in my mind that she will get to the bottom of this incident in the most thorough and timely manner,” the Commerce chairman said in a statement to POLITICO.

MT EXCLUSIVE — Amtrak ridership up in June: Amtrak ridership was up 1.7 percent last month from the previous June, according to new data from the railroad. It’s the highest June figure to date and the second-highest monthly ridership tally ever recorded. Amtrak has set five new monthly records in FY 2013 (October, December, January, March, May and June). “Amtrak is forecasting strong ticket sales for the remaining three months of FY 2013 and expects to meet or exceed last year’s ridership record of 31.2 million passengers,” said an Amtrak official.

THAT DIDN’T TAKE LONG: Former Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood didn’t waste any time in lining up some post-DOT work. Less than a week after leaving government service, he’s been named to the board of advisers for the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics, joining Obama vets David Axelrod and Stephanie Cutter.

MAILBAG — Oh no EU don’t: A bipartisan group of 158 House members have written the U.S. trade rep to urge that aviation traffic rights not be a part of the new Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership up for negotiation with the EU. Read it: http://politico.pro/18J73DB

MT POLL — Will SFO crash spur legislation? With the recent aviation crashes and lobbying on the pilot training rule, MT wonders how — if at all — lawmakers will address aviation safety in the coming months. Hearings, legislation or nothing at all? Maybe FAA beats the Hill to it. Vote before Sunday at noon: http://bit.ly/1d8CmVQ

THE AUTOBAHN (SPEED READ)

- EAA sues to force FAA to pay for air traffic controllers for its AirVenture event in Oshkosh, Wis. Pros get the suit: http://politico.pro/14Dwouo

THE COUNTDOWN: DOT funding and passenger rail policy both run out in 84 days. Surface transportation policy is up in 452 days and FAA policy in 814 days. The mid-term elections are in 483 days.

CABOOSE — New York Transit Museum: Your MT host took an ill-timed holiday vacation to the Big Apple last weekend, including a stop at the underground New York Transit Museum that occupies an old subway stop. It was overload for a transit nerd — two tracks full of old rail cars, out of date system maps and much much more. Check out some pictures of an old-school fare gate (http://politico.pro/157xhKc), a rail car on the tracks (http://politico.pro/11vRaxN) and a vintage ad for the A train to the Rockaways (http://politico.pro/12yCzfY).

Oops: Yesterday’s MT incorrectly stated the death count from the 1990s’ deadliest airline accidents — it was 917 fatalities in five crashes. Apologies for the error.

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